‘Polygamy works’ – Akuku Danger opens up on grandfather’s advice
By Valerian Khakayi, May 11, 2026Award-winning comedian and entertainer Mannerson Oduor Ochieng, widely known as Akuku Danger, has opened up about the lessons he learnt from his famous grandfather, the late Akuku Danger, saying his upbringing exposed him to both polygamy and monogamy.
Speaking during an interview with media personality Chris the Bass, in an episode aired on Monday, May 11, 2026, Akuku said he grew up seeing polygamy work successfully within his grandfather’s large family setup.
“Polygamy works. I come from a polygamous family; the late Akuku Danger was my grandfather; he died in 2010,” Akuku revealed.
The comedian explained that while his own father married only one wife, his grandfather had a huge polygamous family where the wives lived together peacefully.
“I saw polygamy work, and I saw monogamy work because my father married only one wife, but on my grandfather’s side, I saw it work; all his wives lived together happily,” he added.
Akuku revealed that the famous polygamist was actually his mother’s father and had an extremely large family.
“He was my mother’s father,” he said.
“My grandfather had 266 wives, hao ndio wenye tulikuwa tumejua, children they are over 500 and grandkids.”
Family set-up
According to the comedian, the family is so large that they even have two WhatsApp groups to help members stay connected.
He also disclosed that identifying family members during gatherings was not easy because of the huge numbers involved.
“I know quite a number of the grandkid .Me am a grandchild number 1666. We have two WhatsApp groups,” Akuku opened up.
“Si nyumbani tulikuwa na ID; ukikuja nyumbani ndio unatoa even during the funeral tulitunaonyeshana juu bila hiyo ingekuwa noma sana because anybody could have come and claimed to be Akuku Danger’s child.”
Despite the massive family structure, Akuku said there was a clear system of leadership and order in the home.
“The first wife was the chief custodian of the family, which means anything that was to happen had to pass through her before reaching to him,” he said.
The comedian added that even grandchildren had to formally seek permission before visiting the family patriarch.
“Hadi sisi grandkids, we had to book an appointment before visiting our grandfather,” the comedian added.
“I saw my grandfather four times in my lifetime.”
The late Akuku Danger became famous across Kenya for his unusually large family and remains one of the country’s most talked-about polygamists years after his death.